WHAT IF YOUR PASTOR DOESN’T ENJOY PREACHING?
What if your pastor isn’t a gifted preacher?
Would you tell him? Would you let him know that his preaching is sub-par? Likely not! Most congregates would let him find out on his own. But what if he’s waiting for you to tell him?
The reality is that many head off to Bible College, aspiring to become like the preachers they look up to. And 4-6 years later they graduate, invigorated to do Kingdom work. Then they end up in a church giving mediocre messages with minimal passion.
What went wrong? How did this happen? How did they get so much theological grounding and ministry philosophy, yet so few communication skills?
In the Western Church this story is happening over and over. A year or two after taking on his first church, the pastor wakes up one morning feeling trapped. This is not what he imagined full-time ministry would look like.
It often comes down to gifting.
He has come to the realization that though he was invigorated by all his favourite preachers, he’d rather spend his week in other ministries. Perhaps visiting the sick and elderly or helping the homeless? Or perhaps, or maybe focusing on administrative tasks?
If he’s able to be honest, he’d rather do anything else but be preach another sermon.
So what can he do? He’s locked in his office studying two or more days each week. All of which to fulfill the main focus of his job description, centred around the Sunday message. And yet, each hour of study does not bring him any nearer to the pastor he’s called to be.
He knows that preaching is not only low on his gifted ability, but even lower on his level of enjoyment. Nevertheless, he carries on without ever telling a soul. How could he? He’ll put out a mediocre sermon each week, so he can keep visiting people or running a small group.
Is this the best way?
Believe it or not, this is more common than we care to admit. Many pastors will stay in this situation for years, never confiding in their leadership due to fear of job loss. I’m not saying that I have a clear answer, but why not as the question?
It might just be possible to have an excellent Senior Pastor who doesn’t preach every Sunday. Traditionally, we would say it’s not possible. And yet, considering the number of excellent leaders out there who struggle with public speaking, it might be possible.
Even small churches have Deacons and Elders, or even lay-leaders who would be willing to give the odd message. Obviously, there would be some scheduling details to figure out, but think of the benefits.
By freeing our pastoral staff to assist in designing their own job descriptions, centred around their gifting and ministry passions, the church should only benefit. Right?
Maybe this is too out there for most churches? On the other hand, maybe its part of the solution to the Western church’s high pastoral turnover? Maybe we could keep more pastors around by simply asking them to define their roles, instead of us telling them?
Join the Conversation, Share Your Thoughts:
Do you think pastors should have input into defining their pastoral roles? Why or why not?
You are pushing the envelope here ….yes ? ….. how dare we let a pastor use the spiritual gifts God has given him instead of the ones we want him to have ?….. how dare we let the man we have called to provide spiritual leadership actually lead …..
I sense some sarcasm in this comment…I love it! Thanks Dave!
That’s what our church is doing right now. We have a couple of gifted young men who work alongside the seasoned pastor and share preaching duties. It takes a lot more work and communication on their part to make things cohesive. As far as attendees go, some like the model we have while others prefer to have the same person preach week after week so they know what to expect.
We were lucky in hiring our current pastor, because he looked at our job description and picked it apart. We wanted someone who was good with computers, and he basically told us his limits are checking his email. He was very clear from the get-go as to what we should expect him to do, and what he won’t do or isn’t good at. Too bad all pastors aren’t like that, but many fear that the truth will cause them to not get hired!
Thanks for your comment Bridgit. It’s good to hear from you again!
I have had way too many conversations with pastors and other ministry staff who have accepted a job description to get the job. They deeply want to serve the Lord, yet lack the faith to be honest with what they can truly accomplish and where their passions lie.
Your Lead Pastor is wise to have the integrity to refuse being pegged into a position that would not allow him his full potential for the Kingdom.
I do agree that having a preaching/teaching team would definitely help especially if public speaking isn’t a pastor’s strong point. I see no reason why it can’t happen. That will certainly alleviate a lot of pressure. However, we should also be careful not to go to the other extreme of completely relieving a pastor of the responsibility to preach. It’s still a Biblical mandate for pastors and elders to preach/teach. If a pastor isn’t “gifted”, perhaps a suggestion would be to seek training. I fully believe that anybody can learn the skills to communicate better.
Thanks for giving JeremyNortonBlog your valuable time! I greatly appreciate it!
Your caution is well warranted. Teaching the Word is and should be a primary focus on the church. Someone MUST be preaching! Training is an excellent option and a progressive church would continue supplying funds for future training in all areas of pastoral ministry. Even the best can always get better!
This being said, there is still the enjoyment factor. More and more, I am seeing gifted matched with fulfilment. I’m not saying that pastors shouldn’t do things that they don’t enjoy; that’s just part of life. I’m just trying to suggest that maybe joy in service has a very tight connection to fit in gifting.
Thanks again for taking part in the discussion! I love getting reader feedback!